Alright, so I announced a while ago that I was going to reboot "Path Changer" and as I promised, here's the Reboot's first chapter. I'd decided that I'd grown since the last time I'd updated the story and there were some things that I wanted to change up. The best way for me to accomplish that was to completely rewrite the story. However, I was focusing on my Highschool DxD stories since they had ideas that I'd wanted to try. Also, there were errors that I made in the first story, so to just wipe the slate clean, I restarted. I learned from some of my mistakes, so things should be better this time, lol.

Now, I did get a question for this story from the Q&A that I started. However, I put it right at the bottom of the page as an A/N because of how long it was. Lol. I know, I'm sorry. I just tend to rant on topics like these.

I'm also suggesting music to listen to when reading my stories. I do this with my Highschool DxD stories to enhance the mood. I'm thinking of making that a thing for my stories since I always get pumped up when I listen to music when writing my stories. Also, I leave it up to you to sync the music with your reading pace since everyone reads at different speeds.

As for how Robin looks, it's his default canon appearance.

Anyways, I hope you enjoy the first chapter of the reboot and I hope it beats the first chapter of the original.

Chapter 1: Enigma

'Where am I?'

A pitch-black void was all that could be seen by the man of this tale, Robin. He could not see a single speck or outline. He felt nothing, for he had no body. His mind was the only thing that moved. The only thing he was aware of, was that he was in darkness. Until…

"Hey, do you think he's okay?"

"No idea. Aren't you the healer here?"

Those voices sounded muffled. The first was slightly high-pitched and feminine. The second was masculine, and deep. Was someone speaking into his mind or dreams? Or was someone speaking from reality.

Slowly, Robin felt his physical being. He could feel his fingers, his toes, his back, and soon, his head. He could feel physical contact from his skin. It confused him. Was he simply asleep? Or was he materializing? It was odd. He had so many questions within his subconscious that it was messing with him.

Slowly opening his eyes, the light of the sun began piercing his vision. At first, all that appeared before him was blurry. Two particular blurs stood out to him. Then, his sight focused. Standing over him was a young man and teenaged girl. One was muscular and fit, with an armored pauldrons over one arm with a sleeveless vest and modest pants and boots. However, what was most striking about him was his blue hair and eyes. It was like looking at water except they had human form.

The other was a girl with curly blonde hair tied into two pigtails and green eyes. In Robin's opinion, she looked kind of cute and she seemed to radiate positivity and care. She wore a yellow dress with a corset on her torso. She seemed to be a bit more glamorous than the man opposite of her but she still looked modest.

(Doctor Who Specials OST: Gallifrey. Play Song.)

Who were these people?

"Hey, are you okay? You don't look too good." The girl asked.

"This isn't a nice place to sleep, y'know. Here, let me help you up."

The man with blue hair stretched out his hand. Robin took it hesitantly. For some reason, his body felt like it was tingling with a sore burn, as if he were run over by something. Hoisted to his feet, Robin nearly fell over as he caught himself.

"Whoa now." The girl caught him.

"Thank you."

Robin rubbed his temples, feeling a painful pulse in his head.

"What's your name?" She asked.

"I…" Robin trailed off.

Now that he thought about it…why was he drawing blanks? This was a common question, but for some reason, his brain wasn't computing.

"I kind of don't…"

"Don't tell me you don't remember?" The girl looked worried, gasping.

"It's kind of hard."

"Don't fret too hard. Take your time." The blue-haired calmly told him.

Taking several moments, asking his own mind as to what his name was, Robin felt an epiphany strike his mind, sadly, it was the only one.

"My name's Robin!" Robin gasped.

"Can you tell us anything else about yourself?" The girl asked.

Again, his mind was blank, this time, he didn't feel a single lead in his mind.

"No, I'm sorry."

Slowly, Robin walked over to a small creek that was nearby. Looking at the clear water, he lookd at himself. He had white hair, a youthful face, and grey eyes. His clothes were rather odd, since he wore a tan shirt and pants with black boots, and a dark hooded coat. What really stood out was the fact that it had some kind of symbol on his back. A total of six eyes arranged and connected by a crescent line. Not to mention, he had a purple mark like that on the back of his right hand.

"Ah, that's alright. My name's Lissa. That guy over there is my older brother, Chrom."

"It's nice to meet you, Robin." Chrom extended his hand.

"It's nice to meet you too. If you can pardon me, where am I?" Robin looked around.

All around him, was greenery. Lush emerald plains and distant forests blanketed the ground and shimmering lakes and rivers sparkled distantly.

"You don't remember where you are?" Lissa looked worried this time.

Chrom looked skeptical, but at the same time, he had a hint of concern in his eyes.

"This is the halidom of Ylisse." Chrom started.

(Doctor Who Specials OST: Gallifrey. End Song.)

"Milord!" Another voice echoed over.

Walking towards them, was a tall man with brown hair in aqua-blue armor. Honestly, Robin found it odd that he could walk in such cantankerous attire, but he didn't show a single hint of discomfort.

"Frederick." Chrom nodded at him in greeting.

"Milord, if I may humbly remind you again, do take care not to rush off too far ahead alone. What would happen if some assailant were to attack you with your guard down?"

Frederick then froze as he laid eyes upon Robin. The amnesiac immediately felt wariness being volleyed at him.

"Robin, this is Frederick, one of my most loyal friends." Chrom gestured towards the knight.

"This is Robin, an amnesiac that we just met." Lissa pointed out.

"Are we to simply believe that he is an amnesiac simply because he acts and says so?" The knight raised a brow.

Robin should've felt insulted, but at the same time, he kind of understood the skepticism. Aside from lacking memories, he did have common sense and academic knowledge. At least, he hoped it was correct academic knowledge.

Not only that, but Frederick sounded more logical rather than hostile. The zeal in his eyes was overflowing with stoicism.

"Now, that's just rude, Frederick. You shouldn't accuse someone of something if you've only just met them." Lissa put her hands on her hips.

"Well, we can't just let someone stay unconscious by the side of the road, can we? It wouldn't be right to just ignore them and be on our way." Chrom folded his arms.

"Milord, good men do exist, but so do evil men. They can smile with the brightest expression and hide the darkest of intentions." Frederick retorted.

"Geez, paranoid much?" Lissa muttered.

"I merely worry for your safeties, Milord and Milady." Frederick sighed.

"Appreciated, but ease up. We don't want to rub everyone the wrong way. Not everyone is out to kill you." Lissa nodded.

"And we know that because?" Frederick snarked.

"Because we can also defend ourselves." Chrom shut down the argument.

He put a hand on the sword strapped to his belt. It was quite odd in that it had a tear-shaped hole where the handguard would be.

"Now, let's get going. Town is a ways away and I'm starving." Lissa turned around and pointed into the forest.

"Yes, let's not delay further." Chrom nodded.

"I'm sorry, but just who are you all?" Robin asked.

He didn't want to come off as rude, but he really needed to know what he could.

"You do not recognize them?" Frederick sternly asked.

Robin wondered if he was going to unleash the spear strapped to his back if he answered wrong.

"Sadly, I do not." Robin shook his head.

"I believe that to be a pile of pegusii dung." Frederick narrowed his eyes.

"Alright, enough, Frederick. Let's get to town before it gets too dark." Chrom shut down Frederick's intimidations once more.

"Wait, I'm to just follow you?" Robin looked at them skeptically.

"Don't worry, we won't hurt you. It just won't do if we were to spend our time talking out here in the wilderness like this. I believe a tavern is far more suitable for talk." Chrom gave him a reassuring grin.

Robin didn't exactly feel safe around these people. He didn't know them and he didn't even know who he was. How in this world was he supposed to trust them?

Walking into the forest, the group made their way through until they reached a small town. Entering a tavern, the four sat down and began the awaited conversation.

"So, am I going to be held prisoner?" Robin looked at everyone wearily.

"As long as you don't try to hurt anybody, then no." Chrom laughed.

"Which we have yet to evaluate." Frederick crossed his arms.

"Forgive him. He's a good man but he's overly cautious and wary." Chrom pointed his thumb at the knight.

"Well, one of us needs to have common sense. Forgive me, Sir Robin. Were you someone we were aware of, then I'd needn't be so distrustful, but I cannot do that unless I see genuine proof that you mean no harm." Frederick sighed.

"It's fine." Robin nodded in understanding.

"Still, it's good that we found you rather than brigands. You'd have your throat slit and your belongings stolen if that'd happened." Lissa cheerfully spoke.

Her face then paled.

"Well that was grim…" Lissa sheepishly chuckled.

"It's fine." Robin awkwardly nodded.

"So, tell me what you can." Chrom sipped his mug.

"I can't really say much. I don't remember anything besides my name." Robin shrugged.

Frederick was tempted to say something, but held his tongue. He'd done enough attacking for one day.

"Well then, ask questions." Chrom laughed.

"Tell me about Ylisse, please."

"You appear here and now you wish to know about this location as if you magically appeared?" Frederick huffed.

"Alright, stop intimidating. Nothing's happening." Lissa rolled her eyes.

"Tis merely my duty, Milady." Frederick bowed his head.

"Ignoring the duo, Ylisse is a halidom ruled by the Exalt, Emmeryn. It's much like any other kingdom that you'd come across. It's surrounded by the neighboring nation of Plegia, which- "

Before Chrom could finish speaking, a loud boom wracked the town.

(Final Fantasy XV OST: Veiled in Black. Play Song.)

"What was that?!" Lissa jumped out of her seat.

Rushing outside, everyone was surprised to see that a significant number of bandits were torching homes and grabbing the nearest objects in their line of sight.

"Bandit raid." Robin concluded.

"Find somewhere to hide, we'll pick things up later." Chrom turned to him before drawing his sword.

"Are we really going to just leave him on his own?" Lissa asked.

"Well, unless you can train him to fight within the next five seconds, I really don't think we should make him stand in front of a blade." Chrom shook his head.

Frederick didn't say a word. He'd already gone into combat mode. Hefting the spear in his hands, he and Chrom rushed toward the group of bandits and began laying waste to them. Robin was quite surprised. Despite how normal they acted, their level of skill was way above his expectations.

Chrom was besieged by three bandits, all armed with axes and swords. One lunged at him from the left side. Sidestepping, Chrom knocked the axe from his hand and slashed him across the chest before parrying a strike from behind. With a quick whirl of his sword, Chrom drew a bloody line across his chest, delivering a wound that sent that second bandit to the ground. The third jumped at him from behind but Chrom was fast enough to jump into the air. Reaching a higher altitude, Chrom dodged the attack before spinning downwards like a wheel. The bandit had little time to react before he was cut down with a mighty crash of Chrom's sword.

Frederick boasted just as much might, despite his lack of speed in comparison. With a masterful spin of his spear, he knocked away swords and axes that were lunging at him. Using minimal movement, he maintained his distance, guard, and his chances at attacking. In one quick burst of speed, he impaled on assailant through the stomach. Without batting an eye, he turned around and smashed the bottom of his spear into the ribs of another bandit before skewering a third that attacked from behind.

As Robin watched, he was shaken out of his thoughts when he heard a scream.

"Come on! Rip em off!"

"No! Get away from me!"

That immediately caught his attention. It was coming from an alley. For some reason, Robin felt a powerful urge. His pulse was speeding up and his mind was forcing him to take action. He looked at the ground and immediately saw a sword. He didn't have time to think. He had to act now or he'd risk letting something horrible happen.

Grabbing it, he sprinted towards the source of the sound. Thankfully, when he arrived, the bandit was grabbing at a young woman's dress, attempting to tear off her corset.

"Stop it, please!" She begged.

It was now or never. Caught within the rapid pace of the moment, Robin ran forward. With one ragged move, Robin impaled the bandit through the chest. The young woman gasped as she saw the sword point sticking out of her assaulter's chest. He dropped to the floor, revealing Robin.

"Are you okay?" He asked.

"Yes, I am. Thank you."

"You should go and hide somewhere far from here. The bandits are all close to the entrance, so get to the corners of the town." Robin instructed her.

He had no idea where this was all coming from, but he didn't question anything. He just wanted this person to be safe.

"Thank you." The young woman then ran off.

Robin stood up, intending to get back to the entrance to the gates, but something caught his eye. Next to him, was a ruined shop that was selling books. What lied at his feet was none other than a yellow book with a lightning bolt across it.

"A tome?" Robin raised a brow.

What was a tome doing here?

"Wait a minute…I think I know how to use this." He muttered to himself.

"Magic…"

Although it was a small moment, he felt a piece of the puzzle in his head move. Just then, another crash echoed to where Chrom and the others were. Rushing back, he found that the bandits were still going strong. Coincidentally, one of them had a tome as well. It was red, with a wisp of flame decorated on it.

Chrom and Frederick were standing behind buildings, waiting for an opening. Lissa stayed farther back, tending to the wounded with what looked like a magical staff.

"Robin?" Lissa at him as he ran over.

"What's happened?" He asked.

"We were winning until one of the bandits showed up with a magic tome and started throwing fire everywhere. We couldn't get close cus we just got done with getting the wounded over here to safety." Lissa summarized before she turned around from bandaging someone.

"Then let's even the odds." Robin took out the tome he'd found.

"You can use magic?" She looked at him with some surprise.

"I…think I do?" Robin scratched his head, the annoying fuzz within annoying him again.

"What're you doing, Robin?" Chrom walked over.

"Okay, first things first. I think I've got a plan." Robin stopped that question before anything else. He then showed his Thunder Tome.

"Do people just have tomes laying around?" He asked.

"Many towns obtain the books and often, they don't understand their significance." Frederick explained.

"Well, I think I know how to use it." Robin spoke.

"And what is it that you plan to do?"

"Since you can't get close to them, I'll give them a shock and get you the chance to finish them off." Robin explained.

Chrom and Frederick looked at each other, as if communicating through mere expression alone.

"Alright, give us your plan." Chrom relented.

He didn't sound too ecstatic, but this was better than nothing. He was curious as to what Robin had come up with.

"Those bandits don't seem too organized and trained. They swing randomly and most of them barely listen to what the other says. To add to that, they don't seem very aware of others. So, I'll just blast the one with the tome and in that time, you two attack from both sides. We'll pincer them. It's 3-to-1, but I think we'll be fine." Robin decided.

"That's really simple." Lissa deadpanned.

"It does save us our strength, though." Robin agreed with how simple it was.

"Nevertheless, it's better to get through it in one piece, rather than just charge and hope we dodge everything." Chrom shrugged.

Without further ado, everyone began the plan. Robin held his sword and rushed forward. Opening the Thunder Tome, he opened his hand and held it forward.

'Here goes nothing.' Robin sighed.

"Thunder!"

With that one word, a yellow magical circle lit up from a page of the Tome. Simultaneously upon invocation, a yellow orb of electricity cracked into existence in Robin's palm.

With a mental command, the sphere of electricity flew right at the bandit holding the fire tome.

"Fire!"

Piercing right through the cloud of fire, the bolt of thunder magic barreled right at the bandit. Wracked with tendrils of electricity, he shook violently as he dropped to the ground, incapacitated by the magic.

With their only cover disposed of, the rest of the bandits were prey for Chrom and Frederick. The two lunged out from behind two buildings on both sides of the bandit group, brandishing their weapons. With quick and furious slashes and stabs, they made short work of the bandits, though they retained untmost caution.

However, Robin noticed loud footsteps getting louder. He looked at both sides to his left and right and found that two bandits were gunning right for him.

"Not good." Robin muttered.

Invoking his Thunder Tome, he threw his sword into the air, turning around to blast one bandit with a Thunder spell before catching his sword and parrying a strike from the remaining assailant.

Dodging one slash of the bandits sword, Robin stepped back again, missing another before parrying a third attack and cleaving into the last attacker.

(Final Fantasy XV OST: Veiled in Black. End Song.)

Soon enough, the bandits were finished off, leaving only the cleanup to be dealt with. Looking around, Robin was quite…affected by what he saw. He didn't have as much time to think before since everything was happening within the heat of the moment.

He looked at his hands and saw that there was some blood dried on it. He gulped. Odd. He'd just killed people and yet, no shaking. Why did he feel this calm? Killing wasn't something that should be taken lightly or brushed aside. So, why did he feel this level of calmness? Certainly, he didn't feel happy or satisfied. He felt troubled, but he'd expected himself to react much more severely. He'd thought he'd be shaking and crying, but despite all that, he was merely bitter and unsettled with himself. Was it because he was amnesiac? It made him wonder, just what sort of person was he before?

"Robin…Robin?"

He snapped up and found Chrom, Lissa, and Frederick standing in front of him.

"Are you alright?" Chrom asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Robin nodded.

"I see that you're capable enough with magic and a sword…do explain." Frederick asked.

"I don't know…gut instinct and muscle memory, I guess? I just grabbed them and I just knew what to do, a little." Robin scratched his head.

His head just wouldn't stop throbbing when he mentally beat his brain to function properly.

"That was pretty cool! We have mages and knights, but I've never seen someone dual-wield both, before." Lissa walked over.

"A rare sight, yes." Frederick nodded.

"Well, the damage here wasn't too severe. We managed to stop it before it could get out of hand. Not only that, but the bandits weren't very good at being bandits, so our work was light this time." Chrom sheathed his sword after wiping it with a cloth.

"Milord, I do believe that they were Plegian." Frederick followed up.

"Yeah, I had a feeling. They were dressed the same as some Plegians too." Chrom nodded.

"Plegians?" Robin looked at them inquisitively.

"Inhabitants from Plegia, Ylisse's neighboring country. Our lands have had a history of bad blood. These days, they find nearly any excuse to start conflict. It's rather sad, really." Chrom sighed with a wry smile.

"And they like to pick on the citizens the most because they can't fight back." Lissa grumbled.

"That's why we're here. Shepherds who attend the flock." Frederick answered.

"Months into this and I'm still not used to it." Lissa sighed.

"A part of me thinks that no one should be." Robin muttered.

"Excuse me, Milord, but we would be honored if you stayed the night." An elderly villager walked up to Chrom.

"We are simple folk, but we assure you, the food we make will be worth your while. We will toast to your victory for saving us. Those bandits have harassed us for days, but now, they may be over."

Chrom considered their offer for a moment before shaking his head.

"I'm sorry, but we must decline. This is pressing news and we must return to the Capital immediately." He gave an apologetic smile.

"While your offer is extremely generous, and greatly appreciated, this may jeopardize the entire halidom. We must report to the Exalt." Frederick added, giving a nod of respect.

"What?! But it's getting so dark and late!" Lissa cried out.

"Which means we'd better get a move on." Chrom dryly retorted.

"But what about food, bedding, bandits, and ghosts?" Lissa stammered with all her convincing powers.

"We'll hunt wildlife and fruits. We'll sleep with twigs and leaves. We'll keep watch and fight off any who come our way and ghosts are, well… not much we can do but pick a god and pray." Frederick sternly answered.

"I hadn't figured Frederick for someone to joke." Robin quipped.

"Sometimes his humor peeks through. Like when he grins like a madman when he starts a fire." Lissa sighed.

"Or when he's stabbing someone." Chrom added

"It is incredibly unbecoming and rude to speak of such things about someone when they are present." Frederick narrowed his eyes.

"Oh, we know. It's just funny watching your brows furrow when we poke jokes at you." Lissa grinned.

"I swear, you two are the reason why I'm so grim." Frederick muttered.

"Come on, let's get going." Chrom sighed.

As night fell, it was time to find a campsite within the darkening forest that they were in.

"I should've stayed home." Lissa groaned.

"Oh, come now, Lissa, you insisted on this. Besides, this'll make you tougher like you said it would." Chrom retorted.

"I at least expected reason to come with us."

"Well, reason had other plans because time said no. Besides, we're not very far from the Ylisstol anyways. As soon as we wake up tomorrow morning, we'll simply walk for a few short hours and we'll be right at the doors of home." Chrom sighed.

"Now that we've cleared a campsite, we'd best gather wood and food." Frederick interjected.

"Right, I'll deal with hunting." Chrom volunteered.

"Then I shall gather wood." Frederick concluded.

"I'll help too." Robin raised a hand.

"Excellent, surely we'll have enough wood to feed the fire in the morning as well." Frederick nodded.

"I'll stay here. I'm done for the day." Lissa shook her head.

"Suit yourself." Chrom chuckled.

About an hour later.

"I'm starving!" Lissa groaned.

After Robin and Frederick had returned from gathering firewood, they all silently waited for Chrom to come back from hunting. Sadly, their stomachs were running out of patience.

"I'll admit, Milord does take his time with hunting. Especially the walk back." Frederick noted.

His face then paled.

"You don't suppose- "

"No, don't worry, Frederick. Chrom can deal with anyone who's stupid enough to attack him. He's the one who keeps breaking the walls at home, remember?" Lissa cut him off before he could start worrying.

"I only did it twice!" A deep voice came from the behind some bushes.

"Ah, dinner's…here…" Lissa's initial enthusiasm faded as she laid eyes upon what was on Chrom's back.

A dead bear.

"Milord…was that all?" Frederick asked.

"Yes. A lone bear was all I could hunt because there were no deer for quite a distance. Now, let's get to cooking." Chrom smirked.

After cleaning and preparing the bear's flesh over a fire, everyone began to eat. Almost everyone, anyways.

"Ah, it's been so long since I've relished the taste of bear." Chrom happily bit into his chunk of roasted bear meat.

"Robin, don't tell me you…" Lissa turned to the amnesiac.

Chomp. Chomp. Chomp. That was all that was happening next to her. Robin barely registered her words as he hungrily wolfed down his portion of food.

"Well, can't blame you, since you probably haven't eaten for days." Lissa groaned in defeat.

"Trust me, Lissa, you'll wish you'd eaten later." Chrom advised his sister.

Lissa glared at the chunk of bear meat in front of her as if it kicked her in the face. Reluctantly, she slowly brought the roasted flesh to her mouth. With one bite, Lissa tore off a small piece.

"Grgh…" She wretched.

"Go on, swallow it." Chrom chuckled.

With several chews, Lissa finished that one bite.

"Blegh! It's so foul after the first four chews…" She whined.

"At least your stomach won't protest." Chrom shrugged.

"Aren't you going to eat, Frederick?" Lissa turned to the present knight.

"I've had my fill earlier today. My lunch was quite satisfying." Frederick cleared his throat.

"If you say so…" Lissa looked at him with suspicion.

Later that night, Robin, who'd been asleep upon his bed of leaves with a small blanket over him, felt something odd. A small shake of the earth. Opening his eyes with some reluctance, he sat up. He looked up and found that the sky was…purple. Slowly, some orange was creeping across and the smell of smoke reached his nose.

(Gundam 00 OST: Masurao. Play Song.)

"Robin?" Lissa stirred.

Looking up, she rubbed her eyes before the smell of smoke reached her too.

"Something's wrong." Robin answered.

Chrom, who awoke from their rustlings stood up.

True to those words, the trembling of the earth intensified. Beneath them, the ground began to tear, slowly shifting places.

"Quick, over here!" Frederick, who was also awake, led everyone away from the campsite.

As they all ran, the earth continued to move, rising higher or sinking to unleash the magma from below the planet's crust. Weaving left and right and circling around shifting stone, the band of four continued without pause.

"What's going on?" Lissa panted.

"Don't know. Whatever it is, it's a first for me." Chrom answered.

"What's that over there?" Robin pointed ahead.

Materializing in the air was a white magical circle. Sprouting to life, was a blue circle that looked like a floating lake.

"What in the name of the gods is happening?" Frederick wondered.

Slowly, something new emerged. Several things were emerging from the circle in the sky. Humanoids with black flesh were dropping from the air, landing unceremoniously on the ground, as if mere ragdolls. Standing to life, these creatures had glowing red eyes with gaping mouths and inhuman faces.

"What are those things? Does this happen a lot here?" Robin looked to the group.

"Not at all. Whatever this is, it's not natural." Chrom shook his head.

"Be on your guard, they're carrying weapons." Frederick shushed everyone.

He was right. These dark creatures were all hefting weapons and were holding onto them quite faithfully. They leered around, as if scanning for anything of interest. Before long, they noticed the party and began to walk toward them. Soon enough, they increased their pace, before breaking into limping runs.

"They don't look like they're here for help. Get ready." Robin stood on his guard, drawing his sword.

"Thunder!" He fired a small sphere of electricity at one monster.

The moment it touched, the creature shuddered violently as it began to disintegrate, turning into purple mist that dispersed into thin air. Not a single trace of the monster remained, not a corpse, not a sound, or even an echo.

Chrom charged, parrying the axe of one monster while Frederick kept another from axing him from behind. With a powerful thrust of his spear, he skewered his foe, kicking them away. Lissa kept her distance, her staff held ready to heal anyone.

Robin ducked a sword from one monster before knocking it out of its hand with a heavy slam of his blade. With another decisive blow, he decapitated the monster, dropping it to its knees. He was forced onto his guard, however, as one monster came barreling at him. With a block, he managed to stop the creature from splitting his skull open, but he was now struggling to keep the weapon away from the dome of his skull. The force and weight of the attack was so heavy, that Robin knew he'd die if he kept pushing back.

With an open palm, he channeled his Thunder Tome and blasted the enigmatic monstrosity back.

"Ah!"

He turned around to see that Lissa was being cornered.

"No!" Robin cried out.

With a blast of Thunder, he brought down one of the monsters but there were too many closing in on her.

Lissa was unable to defend herself, her stuff unsuited for combat. Not only that, but there were four creatures blocking any escape.

"Lissa!"

"Milady!"

Chrom and Frederick came rushing. It was too late. No one was fast enough to help her. Suddenly, Robin's interest was taken when he saw that something else was coming out of the portal in the sky.

"Now what?" He muttered.

Dropping gracefully to the ground, someone dressed in blue attire was charging right at the creatures surrounding Lissa.

With a deadly whirl, they cleaved through several of the creatures before blocking a blow from the last one. Struggling to keep it back, this mysterious person gave a side-glance. Chrom saw the distress and put more effort into his movements. With one precise swing, he cut the creature across the chest before impaling it through the head before it could completely drop to the ground.

As this and the other creatures died, they disintegrated as well, leaving no trace of combat.

(Gundam 00 OST: Masurao. End Song.)

Looking around, there were no other signs of any more unknown creatures appearing, giving the group a moment to catch their breath.

"Who are you, if I may ask?" Chrom turned to the blue newcomer.

"You may call me Marth. Right now, you should focus on getting out of here. A lot worse things are coming, so you'd best be careful." He said.

Suddenly, another quake of the ground threw the party off their feet, with the orange glow of magma coloring the sky.

As soon as the shaking stopped and everyone looked up, the masked stranger had disappeared.

"Where'd he go?" Frederick looked around, trying to find any clues.

"Don't know, but he was right. We need to leave this forest, now." Robin concluded.

Seeing the state of the forest, it was best that not a single moment be wasted any longer. Together, the four sped off, rushing back to the Halidom of Ylisse. This emergence of new creatures that moved like machines was a pressing matter. If not dealt and discussed about, it could very well lead to something worse.

Author's Note:

Alright, so I got 2 questions from PRemington900:

From PRemington900:

Q1: For the remake of this story, will you be adding additional elements such as drama and maybe a little heartbreak for those who aren't involved with Robin but have feelings for him?

A1: Well, there will be drama, but there won't be heartbreak for those who aren't involved with him because I will make it so that they don't have feelings for Robin. However, it's still too early to say, though. I can be fickle with how I plan story events.

Q2: As a writer, what is your experience with negative criticism and what advice would you give in dealing with them for new aspiring fanfic writers?

A2: Well, I've faced a good amount of negative criticism since I started. Some of them made sense and I took them to heart but others were just people trying to troll me. I'd categorize my negative criticism into 3 points since, in detail, that's what it boils down to. Overall, it usually comes down to how I space out my plots or how some people dislike my characters.

* Behavior:

Often times, people complain about how wishy-washy or "emo" my MCs can be. However, the reason why I write them to be so negative or stagnant sometimes, is to show their more vulnerable side and to help balance them out if they're too powerful. If my characters can't be beaten in battle, then they need emotional or psychological issues to hit them where it hurts. It's also done to help reflect their beliefs and philosophies.

* Story Buildup:

This is the one thing that kind of irks me the most from reviewers. A lot of them tend to jump the gun. I use buildup for my stories and often, I take my time for when I want something major to happen. I leave hints laying around and then I try to connect them at a major time I want to develop certain relationships and I want to answer certain questions to set up a major part of the story. When I say I'll do something, it's going to happen, but it might not instantly happen now, it could happen later. However, I do make the mistake of forgetting events, so some reviews do make sense and I'm kind of thankful that they bring that to my attention. Don't wanna go around and consciously making those mistakes.

* Power Inconsistency:

This is something that I'm very guilty of. I will admit, I sometimes forget to doublecheck how powerful I make my characters and how I pace the fights they get into. Often-times, I get swept up in the heat of the moment and once I finish writing it, I forget to go back and improve and correct. So, I don't blame anyone when they point it out. That's my mistake.

Now, here's my advice:

My advice for aspiring writers on this site, is to always read what people say and rationalize it. Is what they're saying making sense? Is it true and does it actually apply to your story? Go back and see the point in the story they're talking about and compare what they say with what happened. If it's true, then take those words into mind and try to make sure that you don't do that again. Try and improve.

However, if what they say to you is total nonsense, then ignore the people who say that nonsense. For example, if someone just left a short and unexplained review/message saying: "Stupid", "Worthless", or "You should quit writing", then ignore them. They're just there to bring you down and to harass or bully you. Sometimes, they're just cowards who can't write or don't want to write and just take it out on you because you were willing to take that step and publish that story. Other times, they just exaggerate a flaw and bash on you because it doesn't reach the standard that they have. Sure, people who do speak harshly do have some points, but for those who are just commenting to bully and harass you, ignore them. Don't give them the satisfaction. I honestly have no more patience for those kinds of people because of an incident that happened with someone I knew on this site.

Regardless, don't forget to always rationalize. Don't get angry and defensive immediately, either. It just goes to show that you shouldn't write just yet either because you're not willing to listen to your own flaws and where you went wrong. Don't lie to yourself and don't laud yourself either. We all aren't perfect, so we've gotta accept what we did wrong and do better next time. Our stuff won't come out perfect, so don't expect it to be and don't try and compare your work with others, it'll just make you make mistakes.

It's a very hard thing to do, writing your own stories and putting them up for others to see and I applaud anyone who's strong enough to get their stories out there because it means you're willing to take criticism once you do get those stories out there. So, as an end to this, don't think to highly of your work, ignore the trolls and haters who are just out to make you feel bad only, and try and improve when someone does point out your mistakes, even if they're not nice about it. Oh, and take your time with your work. One lesson I learned is that if you rush, you tend to slip up and your story suffers for it.

With all that said, good luck to any new or aspiring writers who hope to publish a story on here. People can be cruel but not all of them are wrong. Some people give negative criticisms in order to genuinely help, so don't react negatively every time. Think about what they said and see if it makes sense. If it's a bunch of crap, then ignore it, but if there's sense in what is said, then think about it and try to improve.